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Kerry: I don't recognize my former friend, McCain

Sen. John Kerry, the one-time presidential nominee
whose campaign crumbled under attacks on his military service and
consistency, told fellow Democrats on Wednesday that he doesn't
recognize Republican John McCain, a man he once considered as a
runningmate.

Kerry, his party's pick in 2004 who failed to defeat incumbent
President Bush, said McCain's changed positions on the Republicans' tax cuts, climate change bills and immigration leave him shaken.
Kerry paraphrased himself, telling the Democratic National
Convention delegates: "Are you kidding? Talk about being for it
before you're against it."

Sen. John Kerry speaks during day three of the DNCJohn Moore/Getty Images

Kerry, a McCain friend for almost 22 years and fellow Vietnam
War veteran, collaborated with the Arizonan in the 1990s on a
Senate investigation of prisoners or war. The two enjoyed a close
relationship and Kerry considered McCain as a vice presidential
pick; he eventually chose North Carolina Sen. John Edwards.

Their ties have since dissolved as they have sparred on the
current war in Iraq and Kerry has said McCain is a flip-flopper - a
charge that hounded Kerry's campaign.

"To those who still believe in the myth of a maverick instead
of the reality of a politician, I say, let's compare Senator McCain
to candidate McCain," Kerry said.

"Let me tell you, before he ever debates Barack Obama, John
McCain should finish the debate with himself."

Kerry's loss was, in part, to an independent group's attacks on
him. The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ran ads that misled voters
about Kerry's own military service. His campaign was slow to react,
and by the time they did, many voters believed Kerry lied about his
war record.

John Kerry at the DNCChip Somodevilla/Getty Images

McCain denounced those ads and defended his one-time friend.
Four years later, some of the same folks have returned with ads
critical of Obama's ties to a 1960s radical; McCain has refused to
denounce them.

With a nod to his own failures, Kerry said "no one can question
Barack Obama's patriotism."

Kerry also painted McCain as a warmonger who marched with Bush
into Iraq. Quoting a New York Times profile of McCain, Kerry quoted
McCain telling troops aboard an aircraft carrier just months after
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks: "Next up, Baghdad."